Relative permeability
Relative permeability
Definition of relative
permeability
Laboratory method of
measuring relative permeabilities
Effect of wettability
Factors affecting relative
permeability
Correlations
Averaging
It is expected that students will be able to:
define relative permeability of rock to a particular
fluid for multi-phase fluid flow system
draw relative permeability curves
describe relative permeability measurements
using Steady State and Un-Steady State Flow
techniques
explain the effect of rock wettability on relative
permeabilities and draw the relevant graph
explain factors affecting relative permeability
estimate relative permeabilities using published
correlations, such as Stone, Corey, and NPC.
calculate and draw curves for relative
permeability.
 Relative permeability
• Definition
Give the accurate definition of relative permeability..
• Determination of relative permeability in lab.
Introduce the steady state and unsteady state
methods, their strength and weaknesses.

• Factors influencing relative perm

Discuss the effect of wettability, drainage process,

imbibition process and connate water.

• Correlations

Discuss and apply the correlations to estimate relative

perm.
 Theory

Concept
If two or more fluid flow through a porous media, each fluid will flow
according to Darcy’s Law.

kw A p
qw 
 L
ko A p
qo 
 L
kg A p
qg 
 L
Saturated with water, oil and gas
 Theory

k o  dPo dz  k w  dPw dz  k g  dPg dz 

vos     o g  v ws     w g  v gs      g g 
  ds ds    ds ds    ds ds 

k o  poros media effective permeability vos  oil phase velocity

t o oil v ws  water phase velocity
k w  poros media effective permeability v gs  gas phase velocity
to water
k g  poros media effective permeability dPo
 oil phase pressure gradient
ds
to gas dPw
 water phase pressure gradient
ds
dPg
 gas phase pressure gradient
ds
 Theory

Effective permeability is the ability of a porous media to flow a fluid in the

presence of one or more other fluids.

The effective permeability to the fluid depends on

-the amount or saturation of that fluid in the porous media
-Wettability characteristics of the porous media
-Saturation history
 Theory

Relative permeability

The effective permeability is usually presented in term of relative

permeability.
Relative permeability is the ratio of the effective permeability to a base
permeability.
For example,
The ratio of effective k effective
permeability compared to kr 
absolute permeability
k absolute

or,
The ratio of effective
permeability to the effective k effective
permeability of non-wetting
kr 
k nw @ Swir
phase at irreducible wetting
phase saturation.
 Relative Permeability Curve

Effective permeability

250
ka 400 md

200
Sw Keffnw Keffw
0.1 200 0
150
0.206 118.7 4.4
0.316 64.9 13.3
100
0.4 44.2 20.6
0.5 25.1 29.5
50
0.6 8.8 43.5
0.7 3.7 61.2
0
0.8 0 100 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Keffnw Keffw
 Relative Permeability Curve

kr = k effective wrt k absolute

ka 400 md
keff/ka 0.6

Sw Keffnw Keffw krnw krw

0.1 200 0 0.5 0 0.5

0.2 118.7 4.4 0.29675 0.011

0.4
0.3 64.9 13.3 0.16225 0.03325
0.4 40 20.6 0.1 0.0515
0.3
0.5 21 29.5 0.0525 0.07375
0.6 8.8 43.5 0.022 0.10875 0.2
0.7 3.7 61.2 0.00925 0.153
0.8 0 100 0 0.25 0.1

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

krnw
krw
 Relative Permeability Curve

keff/knw(Swir) k relative = k effective wrt knw(Swir)

Sw Keffnw Keffw krnw krw
0.1 200 0 1 0 1.2

0.2 118.7 4.4 0.5935 0.022 1

0.3 64.9 13.3 0.3245 0.0665
0.8
0.4 40 20.6 0.2 0.103
0.5 21 29.5 0.105 0.1475 0.6
0.6 8.8 43.5 0.044 0.2175
0.4
0.7 3.7 61.2 0.0185 0.306
0.8 0 100 0 0.5 0.2

0
0 0.5 1

krnw
Relative Permeability Curve

Point 1 - on the wetting phase relative permeability

curve shows that a small saturation of
nonwetting phase will drastically reduced
the relative permeability of the wetting
phase (the nonwetting phase occupies the
larger pore spaces, and it is in the large
pore spaces that flow occurs with the least
difficulty.
Point 2 - on the nonwetting phase relative
permeability curve shows that the
nonwetting phase begins to flow at
relatively low saturation of the nonwetting
phase. The saturation of the oil at this
point is called critical oil saturation Soc.
 Relative Permeability Curve

Point 3 - on the wetting phase relative permeablity

curve shows that the wetting phase will cease to flow
at a relatively large saturation (the wetting phase
preferentially occupies smaller pore space, where
capillary forces are the greatest). The saturation of
the water at this point is refered to as the irreducible
water saturation Swir (ketepuan air tak terkurang)
Point 4 - on the nonwetting phase relative permeability
curve shows that, at low saturations of the wetting
phase, change in the wetting phase saturation have
only small effect on the magnitude of the nonwetting
phase relative permeability curve ( at low saturations
the wetting phase fluid occupies the small pore
spaces which do not contribute materially to flow, and
therefore changing the saturation in the small pore
spaces has relatively small effect on the flow of the
nonwetting phase).
Relative Permeability Curve

Write your own note on Gas-oil relative

permeability curves
 Effect of Res. Parameters on kr

2 reservoir parameters considered:

1. Saturation history
drainage
imbibition

2. Rock wettability
water wet rock
oil wet rock
 Effect of Res. Parameters on kr

Saturation history
2 types of saturation history
Drainage process
- Porous rocks is initially saturated with wetting fluid. The wetting fluid was
then displaced with non-wetting fluid. This process, displacement of
wetting phase by non-wetting phase, is called drainage process.
Example – A water-wet rock that was saturated with water. Oil is then injected
into the rock and displacing the water. The oil was non-wetting
relative to water.

Imbibition process
- Porous rocks is initially saturated with non-wetting fluid. The non-wetting
fluid was then displaced with wetting fluid. This process,
displacement of non-wetting phase by wetting phase, is called
imbibition process.
Example – An water-wet rock was saturated with oil. Water is then injected
into the rock and displacing the oil. The oil was non-wetting relative
to water.
 Effect of Res. Parameters on kr

Saturation history

Hysteresis: refers to irreversibility or

path dependence.

Drainage relative permeability curve

is higher than the imbibition curve for
non-wetting phase.
 Effect of Res. Parameters on kr

Rock wettability
Several important differences between oil-wet
curves and water-wet curves are generlly noted:

a. The water saturation at which oil and water

permeabilities are equal (intersection point of
curves) will generally be greater than 50% for
water-wet system and less than 50% for oil-wet
system.

b. The connate water saturation for a water-wet

system will generally be greater than 20%,
whereas, for oil wet-systems, it will normally be
less than 15%.

c. The relative permeability to water at maximum

water saturation (residual oil saturation) will be
less than about 0.3 for a water-wet system, but
will be greater than 0.5 for oil-wet systems.
 Relative Permeability Correlation

Two-phase relative permeability correlations

There are several correlations, among them are:

a. Wyllie and Gardner Correlation (1958)

b. Torcaso and Wyllie Correlation (1958)

c. Pirson's Correlation (1958)

d. Corey's Method (1954)

 Relative Permeability Correlation

Two-phase relative permeability correlations (cont.)

These correlations use the effective phase saturation as the correlating

parameter.

S S S S
S * o
S 
* w wc
S * g

1 S 1 S 1 S
o w g
wc wc wc

So*, Sw*, Sg* = Effective oil, water and gas saturation

So, Sw, Sg = Oil, water and gas saturation
Swc = Connate (irreducible) water saturation
 Relative Permeability Correlation

Two-phase relative permeability correlations (cont.)

a. Wyllie and Gardner Correlation (1958)

Types of formation kro krw

Unconsolidated sand, well

sorted (1  S ) *
w
3
(S )
w
* 3

Unconsolidated sand, poorly

(1  S w ) (1  S w ) ( S )
* 3.5
* 2 * 1.5
sorted o

Cemented sandstone, oolitic

* 2 *2 (S ) * 4
limestone (1  S o ) (1  S w ) o
 Relative Permeability Correlation

Two-phase relative permeability correlations (cont.)

a. Wyllie and Gardner Correlation (1958) (cont.)

Types of formation kro krg

Unconsolidated sand, well

sorted
(S )
o
* 3
(1  S ) *
o
3

Unconsolidated sand, poorly

sorted
(S )
*
o
3.5
(1  S ) (1  S )
*
o
2 *1.5
o

Cemented sandstone, oolitic

limestone
(S ) o
* 4
(1  S ) (1  S )
o
* 2 *2
o
 Relative Permeability Correlation

Two-phase relative permeability correlations (cont.)

a. Wyllie and Gardner Correlation (1958) (cont.)

If one relative permeability is available
System kr

 S  *

Oil-water system k  (S )  k 
* 2

w

1  S
rw w ro *
  w

Gas-oil system  S  *

k  (S )  k 
*

o

1  S
ro o rg *
  o
 Relative Permeability Correlation

Two-phase relative permeability correlations (cont.)

b. Torcaso and Wyllie Correlation (1958)

kro in a gas-oil system.
kro is calculated from the measurements of krg.


k k 
 S * 4

 1  S  1   S  
o
ro rg *
o
2 *
o
 2
 Relative Permeability Correlation

Two-phase relative permeability correlations (cont.)

c. Pirson's Correlation (1958)

Process Wetting phase Nonwetting phase

2
  S S 
Imbibition
k  (S ) S* 3
k   1   w wc

 1  S  S
rw w w r nonwetting
wc nw 

Drainage k  (S ) S
rw
*
w
3
w k 
r nonwetting w
*

 1  S  1   S *
w
 0.25
S w
 .0.5
 Relative Permeability Correlation

Two-phase relative permeability correlations (cont.)

d. Corey's Method (1954)

A simple mathematical expression for generating the relative permeability
data for the oil-gas system. The approximation is good for drainage
processes, i.e gas-displacing oil.

k  1  S
ro
* 4
g

k  S
rg
* 3
g
 2  S  *
g
Example
Generate the relative permeability data for an unconsolidated well-sorted
sand by using the Wyllie and Gardner method. Assume the following critical
saturation values:
Soc = 0.3, Swc = 0.25, Sgc = 0.05

Solution
Drainage oil-water Drainage oil-gas
system system

k  (1  S ) * 3
k  (S ) * 3
S S S
ro w ro o
S 
* o
S 
* w wc

1 S 1 S
o w

k  (S )
rw w
* 3
k  (1  S )
rg
*
o
3 wc wc

S
S 
* g

1 S
g
wc
 Oil-water relative permeability
S S S S
S 
* g
S 
* o
S 
* w wc

k  (1  S ) k  (S ) 1 S 1 S 1 S
* * 3 g o w

ro w rw w wc wc wc

Soc 0.30
Swc 0.25 1.0
Sgc 0.05 0.9
kro
0.8
Sw Sw* kro krw 0.7 krw
0.25 0.0000 1.000 0.0000 0.6
0.31 0.0857 0.764 0.0006 0.5
0.37 0.1607 0.591 0.0042 0.4
0.45 0.2607 0.404 0.0177 0.3
0.52 0.3607 0.261 0.0469 0.2
0.60 0.4607 0.157 0.0978 0.1
0.67 0.5607 0.085 0.1763 0.0
0.70 0.6000 0.064 0.2160 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 Sw 0.8
 Oil-gas relative permeability
S S S S
S  * g
S 
* o
S 
* w wc

k  (1  S )
rg
*
o
3
k  (S )
ro o
* 3
1 S
g
wc
o
1 S wc
w
1 S wc

Soc 0.30 1.0

Swc 0.25 0.9 kro krg
Sgc 0.05
0.8
0.7
Sg So So* kro krg
0.6
0.05 0.7000 0.933 0.813 0.000
0.5
0.11 0.6429 0.857 0.630 0.003
0.4
0.16 0.5929 0.790 0.494 0.009
0.22 0.5262 0.702 0.345 0.027 0.3
0.29 0.4595 0.613 0.230 0.058 0.2
0.36 0.3929 0.524 0.144 0.108 0.1
0.42 0.3262 0.435 0.082 0.180 0.0
0.45 0.3000 0.400 0.064 0.216 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50
Sw
 Example
Generate the relative permeability data for an unconsolidated well-sorted
sand by using the Pirson's method for water-oil system. Assume the following
critical saturation values:
Soc = 0.3, Swc = 0.25, Sgc = 0.05
Solution

Process Wetting phase Nonwetting phase

2
  S S 
k  (S ) S k   1   
* 3
Imbibition rw w w
w wc

 1  S  S
r nonwetting
wc nw 

Drainage k  (S ) S
rw
*
w
3
w
k 
r nonwetting w
*

 1  S  1   S *
w
 0.25
S w
 .0.5
 S S
Oil-water relative permeability (assume oil-wet system)
S * w wc

k  
 1  S  1   S   1 S
w
k  (S ) S * 3 0.25 .0.5

rw w w r nonwetting w
* *
w
S w wc

Soc 0.30
Swc 0.25 1.0
Sgc 0.05 0.9 krw kro
Pirson's 0.8
Sw Sw* krw kro 0.7
0.25 0.0000 0.000 1.000 0.6
0.31 0.0857 0.009 0.763 0.5
0.37 0.1607 0.020 0.658 0.4
0.45 0.2607 0.045 0.535 0.3
0.52 0.3607 0.085 0.424 0.2
0.60 0.4607 0.143 0.325 0.1
0.67 0.5607 0.226 0.237 0.0
0.70 0.6000 0.266 0.205 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 Sw 1.0
Example
Use Corey's approximation to generate the gas-oil relative permeability for a
formation with connate water saturation 0.25.

Solution
k  1  S
ro
* 4
g

k  S
rg
* 3
g
 2  S *
g
 S
Gas-oil relative permeability
S 
* g

k  1  S
ro
* 4
g
 k  S
rg g
 2  S 
* 3 *
g
g
1 S wc

Soc 0.30
1.0
Swc 0.25
0.9 kro krg
Sgc 0.05
0.8
0.7
Sg Sg* kro krg
0.6
0.05 0.0667 0.759 0.001
0.5
0.14 0.1905 0.429 0.013
0.4
0.22 0.2988 0.242 0.045
0.3
0.33 0.4433 0.096 0.136
0.2
0.44 0.5877 0.029 0.287
0.1
0.55 0.7321 0.005 0.498
0.0
0.66 0.8766 0.000 0.757
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 Sg 1
0.70 0.9333 0.000 0.867
 NORMALIZATION AND AVERAGING

• Results of relative permeability tests performed on several core samples of a

reservoir rock often vary.

• It is necessary to average the relative permeability data obtained on individual rock

samples.

• Prior to usage for oil recovery prediction, the relative permeability curves should
first be normalized to remove the effect of different initial water and critical oil
saturations.

• The relative permeability can then be de-normalized and assigned to different

regions of the reservoir based on the existing critical fluid saturation for each
reservoir region.
 NORMALIZATION AND AVERAGING

• The most generally used method adjusts all data to reflect assigned end values,
determines an average adjusted curve and finally constructs an average curve to
reflect reservoir conditions.

• These procedures are commonly described as normalizing and de-normalizing the

relative permeability data.
 NORMALIZATION AND AVERAGING

For a water-oil system:

Step 1. Select several values of Sw starting at Swc (column 1), and list the corresponding
values of kro and krw in columns 2 and 3.

Step 2. Calculate the normalized water saturation S* w for each set of relative
permeability curves and list the calculated values in column 4 by using the following
expression:

where ;
Soc =Critical oil saturation
Swc = Connate water saturation
S*w = Normalized water saturation
 NORMALIZATION AND AVERAGING

Step 3. Calculate the normalized relative permeability for the oil phase at different
water saturation by using the relation (column 5):

where kro = relative permeability of oil at different Sw, (kro)Swc = relative

permeability of oil at connate water saturation: kr*o = normalized relative permeability
of oil.

Step 4. Normalize the relative permeability of the water phase by applying the following
expression and document results of the calculation in column 6.

where (krw)Soc is the relative permeability of water at the critical oil saturation.
 NORMALIZATION AND AVERAGING

Step 5. Using regular Cartesian coordinate, plot the normalized kr o* and krw* versus Sw*
for all core samples on the same graph.

Step 6. Determine the average normalized relative permeability values for oil and water
as a function of the normalized water saturation by select arbitrary values of S w* and
calculate the average of kro* and krw* by applying the following relationships:

and

where n = total number of core samples, hi = thickness of sample i, ki = absolute

permeability of sample i.
 NORMALIZATION AND AVERAGING

Step 7. The last step in this methodology involves de-normalizing the average curve to
reflect actual reservoir and conditions of Swc and Soc. These parameters are the most
critical part of the methodology and, therefore, a major effort should be spent in
determining representative values.

The Swc and Soc are usually determined by averaging the core data, log analysis, or
correlations, versus graphs, such as: (kro)Swc vs. Swc, (krw)Soc vs. Soc, and Soc vs. Swc
which should be constructed to determine if a significant correlation exists.

Often, plots of Swc and Sor versus log (k/Ф)0.5 may demonstrate a reliable correlation to
determine end-point saturations as shown schematically in Figure 5-8.

When representative end values have been estimated, it is again convenient to perform
the denormalization calculations in a tabular form as illustrated below:
 NORMALIZATION AND AVERAGING

where (kro)Swc and (krw)Soc are the average relative permeability of oil and water at
connate water and critical oil, respectively, and given by:
NORMALIZATION AND AVERAGING
Example